Lookin' for the lily pad.

Growing up, I was always under the impression that the absolute time of my life was going to be in my twenties. Oh yea. This was going to be the period where childhood and adulthood crossed paths and I was going to live in this decade of working and having the most fun humanly possible. It's too bad when you and life don't exactly see eye to eye though.

So. Here I am. Approaching my mid-twenties (and not believing that time has somehow managed to speed up at full force). And now that I'm here, I'm not so sure that this is really the prime. I think everyone is different, but from what I've learned I think my prime is a long way off.

One of my all-time idols and well, the person I would LOVE to be (maybe even more than Rob Pattinson's girlfriend) is J.K. Rowling. Does that surprise you? If you know me, you know I LOVE LOVE Harry Potter. Right along with all the other 10 and 12 year olds. Love it. But behind this awesome series is a truly amazing woman.

Like most writers, people may not know that much about her personal life. But the truth is, she hasn't had such a charmed one. A mother who died from MS, a divorce, forced to live off welfare and a baby to provide for. Clinically depressed to top it all off. And you know what she did? When she was at her absolute worst, when life threw her out and she was all alone, she wrote Harry Potter. But the work and rejection didn't end there. No. Life still had to be cruel. Harry Potter was originally rejected by 12 different publishing houses before Bloomsbury decided to pick it up. 12 rejections.

But look who’s on top now! Seven novels that have sold around the world at a rate of 1,000 copies a minute, and 8 movies that surely have and will continue to break records at the box office. Middle age seems to be her prime.

There are so many things I want to do, but if you know me, you also know that I want to write a book. Several. More than anything. It’s a long shot to imagine getting the success that Rowling has, but it’s important to remember that we all have to go through tough times to figure out when we’ll reach our prime. Maybe it’s not about trying to be her and jumping to the other side of the pond right now. Maybe sometimes you just need to find the next lily pad.